Prepare for attack

Things are lining up for a military attack of Iran, at least if one can believe press reports and IAEA (or as Bush called them at the press banquet, EIEIO) inspectors:

The U.N. atomic agency has found traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian site linked to the country's defense ministry, diplomats said Friday. The finding added to concerns that Tehran was hiding activities that could be used to make nuclear arms.

Just sprinkle that story on top of this one and marinate:

WASHINGTON: Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the next “month or two or three,” an Israeli official has been quoted here as saying.

The unnamed Israeli official also boasted:

Asked if tunnel entrances to widely scattered Iranian nuclear facilities would be targeted, he responded that Israel had its own geo-stationary spy-in-the-sky satellite taking constant pictures of Iran with a resolution down to 70 centimetres. “We know far more than anyone realises,” he added.

..and said they would use missiles, not attack aircraft. As much as I'm convinced that Iran is the nucleus of Islamic terrorism around the world, it's still an unsettling prospect.

MORE 5/12

Debbie over at Right Truth has an interesting link to a 'compare/contrast' exercise of Ahmadinejad's letter to Bush.

DEATH OF THE WEST? 5/13/06

Pat Buchanan started a brush fire a few years back by penning a book by that name. The premise was based on the declining birth rate in Europe, which he predicted would cause a collapse of the west due to migration of cultures.

Here in 2006 we have Vladimir Putin offering roubles to couples for having more babies because Russia is just flat running out. We have an Islamic leader sending a letter to the President of the United States essentially telling him to abandon democracy and personal liberties and join Islam before it's too late. A serious person might seriously consider whether western civilization is on the other side of the bell curve.

Here's one perspective:

If the West believes in nothing -- no wonder it fails to defend itself. One truth is as good as another. You (Muslim) believe in your truth more strongly than I do mine (because, really, if I think about it, what DO I believe?), then I suppose you might as well have your way, because now that I think about it, the only thing I really believe in is YOUR right to believe and do what you want. I don't really much care WHAT I do, as long as I'm tolerant and enlightened while I'm doing it. But then -- why am I so bored? Why am I so angry? Why am I so discontent?

Aussiegirl is onto something. The Islamofascists are crazy but have a purpose, which fills up their lives. The illegal immigrants coming to America are breaking the law, but they have dreams or needs to fulfill. Too many Americans and westerners live with a "it just doesn't get any better than this" mentality of life, which works really well for a beer commercial. We're just too fat, dumb and lazy. Or fat, drunk and stupid? Whatever floats your boat, dude.

Ahmadinejad touched on this in his letter, but let's not get slap happy giving him credit. As Aussiegirl said, at our peak western civilization led the world in creativity, science and technology. Mahmoud's dream envisions a locked down world following strict Islam, and history doesn't show many advancements coming from Islamic countries. Ahmadinejad's vision is more backward than forward.

But the bottom line is whether a society where faith and purpose are seen as the tools of fools can survive.